The present invention relates to a robot equipped with capacitive detection means, and at least one electrical item of which is electrically referenced to a guard potential different from a general ground potential.
The field of the invention is, non-limitatively, that of the field of robotics, in particular the field of industrial robotics or service robots, for example medical or domestic, or also collaborative robots, also called “cobots”.
Industrial or domestic robots, in particular cobots, generally comprise a body on which a functional head is fastened, presented in the form of a tool or of a tool-holder, allowing them to carry out one or more tasks in an environment.
These robots are involved in more and more applications, either completely autonomously, or assisting a person or an operator. They are generally equipped with sensors allowing them to detect the objects and persons located in their environment, with a view to ensuring the safety of the robot and also of the nearby objects and persons. These sensors can be provided using capacitive detection electrodes.
However, the inventors have noted that in certain situations, the capacitive electrodes with which the outer wall of the robot is equipped detect the electrical items located in the robot itself, in particular when the robot is a robotized arm comprising several articulated segments. Such a detection, hereinafter called “self-detection”, limits the operational range of the robot. In fact, this self-detection can mask the presence of an object or a person approaching the robot and prevent the detection thereof, which is unacceptable from a safety point of view. It follows that in certain cases, the robot may put itself into degraded operating mode or freeze unnecessarily due to safety concerns.
A purpose of the present invention is to overcome this drawback.
Another purpose of the present invention is to propose a robot equipped with a more efficient detection functionality.
Another purpose of the present invention is to propose a robot equipped with a detection functionality avoiding self-detections.
Another purpose of the present invention is to propose a robot equipped with a detection functionality that does not limit the operational range of the robot and does not adversely affect the operation of the robot.